European Union: General Court of European Union dismissed Zalando’s appeal against designation as very large online platform

On 3 September 2025, the General Court of the European Union dismissed Zalando’s appeal against the European Commission’s April 2023 decision designating it as a very large online platform under the Digital Services Regulation. The designation applies to Zalando’s Partner Programme with third-party sellers, which was found to have over 83 million active monthly recipients, above the 45 million threshold. The Court confirmed that Zalando is not an online platform for its own retail sales but upheld that all users could be counted since exposure to third-party content could not be separated. Zalando’s claims on legal certainty, equal treatment, and proportionality were rejected. The ruling confirms Zalando must comply with very large online platform obligations, including consumer protection and measures against illegal content.